Recap: Pittsburgh 1, Richmond 1

MATCH RECAP

PITTSBURGH, PA — (Saturday, August 5, 2017) — The Richmond Kickers (3-11-8) took a point on the road in a 1-1 draw at the Pittsburgh Riverhounds (5-8-9) Saturday night. Raul Gonzalez scored his second goal of the season in the 65th minute from an assist by Yudai Imura. Pittsburgh drew level in the 82nd minute from a goal by Stephen Okai from Victor Souto.

Patrick McCann went for goal early for Richmond in the 2nd minute. From a free kick out wide left, Raul Gonzalez looked to pick out William Yomby or Mallan Roberts inside the Pittsburgh box. Chevaughn Walsh beat both players to the ball, heading it down to try clear it as it landed at the feet of Oscar Umar. Umar took a simple touch back to set up McCann at the top of the Riverhounds box. He put his shot on frame as Pittsburgh keeper Trey Mitchell was there to make the easy save.

Richmond nearly gained the advantage in the 16th minute after winning a corner kick. Sunny Jane placed his corner kick from the right side of the field towards the near post to find William Yomby making the short run. Yomby powered his way through the Pittsburgh defense to get a head to the ball and direct it towards goal as it grazed just wide of the near post.

The Riverhounds could not capitalize on a point blank chance in the 28th minute. Corey Hetzog took control of the ball just inside the Richmond half of the field and played the ball up to Chevaughn Walsh. Braeden Troyer was tightly defending Walsh forcing him to push the ball wide right for Kevin Kerr. Kerr took a touch and then sent in a cross to the top of the Kickers six-yard box as Hertzog ran to meet the ball. He took a touch to go above Matt Turner into the top of the goal, but he put too much on his shot and the ball continued over for a goal kick.

A free kick opportunity in the 53rd minute gave Richmond a chance to try and get on the scoreboard. Raul Gonzalez made a run towards the Pittsburgh box as he was tripped up by Jamal Jack to set up a free kick about 20 yards straight out from goal. Yudai Imura and Sunny Jane stood over the ball, as Jane took the short run up and tried to bend the ball around the Pittsburgh wall. Mitchell move to get into the path of the ball to make the simple stop.

The Kickers were able to get the breakthrough they were looking for in the 65th minute. Oscar Umar stopped the ball on the right sideline to prevent a Pittsburgh throw in and laid the ball off to Patrick McCann in the center of the field. McCann quickly turned towards goal and found Yudai Imura in front of him in space. Imura started to make a run towards the Pittsburgh box just as he slotted the ball through for Raul Gonzalez to his left. Gonzalez controlled the ball inside the Riverhounds box and looked like he was going to go for the endline as he quickly turned towards goal and chipped his shot over a diving Mitchell to find the back of the net.

Four minutes later and second half substitute Romeo Parkes nearly found the tying goal for Pittsburgh. Chevaughn Walsh looked for an opening at the top of the Richmond box and played the ball out to the left side of the box to find Parkes. He cut back and forth to create enough space around Jalen Robinson so he could get a shot off that ended up going too high and over Matt Turner and the Kickers goal.

Stephen Okai did pull a goal back for the Riverhounds in the 82nd minute. Kevin Kerr and Victor Souto passed the ball between each other several times outside of the Kickers 18-yard box looking for an opening. Kerr finally played it to Souto and he quickly fed the ball through to Okai inside the center of the Richmond box. Okai placed his shot towards the far post and under a diving Matt Turner for the game-tying goal.

The Kickers return home to City Stadium next Saturday, August 12 to host Orlando City B and the Social Sports Fest. The party starts at 5:30 p.m. with interactive games including CLUBWAKA, Major League Bocce, Soccer Billiards, Giant Pong, Futchi and Soccer Darts, plus music by Pretty Ugly, RVA food trucks, and Happy Hour specials on over a dozen craft beers on tap. Then, the Kickers take the field at 7:00 p.m. as they take on Orlando City B. Tickets are on sale now at www.richmondkickers.com.

BOX SCORE

LINEUPS

Pittsburgh GK Trey Mitchell, Taylor Washington, Jamal Jack, Tobi Adewole, Marshall Hollingsworth, Danny Earls (68’ – Victor Souto), Stephen Okai, Jack Thompson (45’ – Romeo Parkes), Kevin Kerr, Chevaughn Walsh, Corey Hertzog

Unused Substitutes: Keasel Broome, Gale Agbossoumonde, Shannon Gomez, Ritchie Duffie, Kay Banjo

Richmond GK Matt Turner, Braeden Troyer, Jalen Robinson, Mallan Roberts (57’ – Conor Shanosky), William Yomby, Patrick McCann, Oscar Umar, Sunny Jane, Yudai Imura, Matt Bolduc, Raul Gonzalez

Unused Substitutes: Marcel DeBellis, Fred Owusu Sekyere, Anthony Grant, Luiz Fernando, Franck Tayou, Finnlay Wyatt

STATISTICS

SCORING SUMMARY

CAUTIONS SUMMARY

EJECTIONS SUMMARY

MATCH INFORMATION

Referee: Henrik Karlsson

Assistant Referees: Alfonso Farjado, Maxwell Hartman

Fourth Official: Tyler Beck

Attendance: 3,048

Weather: Partly Cloudy, 68 ºF